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I saw my first-of-year Bluebird just 9 days ago, but didn’t get any decent photos. Today however, I found at least 4 birds and got within photo range more than once. With this nearly nonexistent winter, I have to keep reminding myself that it’s still February and not April. Hennepin County, MN 02/21/24
TITLE: Forêt de Compiègne
ARTIST: Paul Huet
TIME: about 1830
MEDIUM: oil on canvas
TITLE: Weymouth Bay from the Downs above Osmington Mills
ARTIST: John Constable
DATE: about 1816
MEDIIM: oil on canvas
1. What renewable natural resources are visible in this artwork?
The renewable natural resources visible in this artwork are sunlight and geothermal energy.
2. What intermediate-renewable resources are visible in this piece?
The intermediate-renewable resources visible in this piece are forest products, agricultural crops, and soils.
3. What fields of study might be represented in the piece?
Ecology and biology would be the main fields of study represented in this piece, as they apply to any biome. Chemistry would also apply to this environment because chemical reactions and relationships are happening continuously in nature. Geology, geography, archaeology, anthropology, and history could also be applied to this landscape because they answer questions of who/what existed here previously and how, which in turn allow us to understand more about the environment pictured.
4. Interpreting your piece, where on the continuum from ecocentric-to-anthropocentric would you consider the artist's viewpoint?
Huet's viewpoint in these pieces would be ecocentric. He took the time to paint this landscape 5 times from different viewpoints to capture the beauty of this untamed forest. It's very clear that Huet values this ecosystem and would advocate its preservation.
5. Interpreting the artwork in terms of the "Human Influence Index", approximately what is the level of human influence depicted in your piece?
The level of human influence depicted in this piece is very low, if not nonexistent. Huet may have been the only human making an impact on this ecosystem through his wanderings, and that impact is not harmful or detrimental in the least.
6. How would you interpret energy flow in the depiction shown in the artwork?
The energy flow in this artwork would be:
sun -> grass -> grasshopper -> rodent -> hawk -> soil bacteria -> leaves
7. Approximately which ecosystem/ biome is depicted in the artwork you observe?
The biome depicted in the artwork would be a temperate rainforest. After doing some research on the Forest of Compiègne, I read that it is a "lush" environment, meaning that it experiences substantial rainfall for a forest. It is clear in Huet's paintings of the forest that the soil is very fertile, attributing to the amount of trees and grasses. There is also a good amount of sunlight that permeates the canopy, allowing plants to thrive, which in turn feed consumers present in the ecosystem.
8. Describe one of the biogeochemical cycles for the landscape you chose.
The carbon cycle would be most applicable to this temperate rainforest biome because it focuses on the distribution of carbon in the atmosphere by trees and other plants. Trees respirate carbon dioxide given off by humans and other organisms, sending it back into the atmosphere. Plants also use carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for photosynthesis.
9. Sketch the food web that is depicted in the landscape you are studying.
sun -> grass -> caterpillar -> bird -> wolf
10. Describe examples of succession and/or human disturbance in the landscape.
There is little or no human impact present in any of these paintings. If anything, the only impact would be Huet walking through the forest, but that doesn't disrupt the equilibrium of the ecosystem.
This ship is my favorite out of my physical collection. Its just the rights size for play while still having enough detail for display and has an interior. Said interior is based of the cross section book for the force awakens. There is a single bed and nothing else. I wish that the bed could be moved over though, as it is taking up quite a bit a space.
Problems:
the rear door is invisible
the rear wings are not all the way at the end of the ship
there are no front wings
the cockpit is nonexistent
The Flips supporting Meredosia, Bad Catman, Bookmobile, and Looming at Black Sheep Cafe in Springfield, IL on January 17, 2014.
Words cannot describe how good it felt to be shooting another show at Black Sheep after so long. It doesn't have the greatest lighting and the photo pit is nonexistent, but I just feel so at home there because that community of people is just incredible. They all support each other so much and it's amazing to be a part of that and to get to photograph it every so often. And then getting to be the guest photographer for Harm House's "Record of the Night" was absolutely awesome. Honestly, when I look back, I can't even begin to describe how thankful I am to the Black Sheep venue and community for everything they've done for me. This was my training ground when I was really getting started, and these are the people who took me in and accepted me without question and without reservation. That, and they put on some kick-ass shows =)
Ok first impressions -- at F2.8 it does better than most, with a little softness mostly around the corners. (The DA* 50-135mm F2.8 was sharper at F2.8 but everything else still applies to that lens as well)
The SDM is quieter than the canon USM that I've heard -- with my ear pressed to the lens I could barely hear it!! Its not as fast as I had expected, certainly less hunting than the normal AF but in bright sunlight I'm sure its plenty fast.
By F5.6 this lens is razor sharp, as to be expected. Chromatic aberration is almost nonexistent!
Processed with lightroom defaults and no post processing whatsoever
Price for this one was $899, the 50-135mm was $950
Of course, both lenses are fully weather sealed
Fun to try, need to sell more prints first =D
I'd say, my take on the Afghan Girl, but then this is probably as far from that as my (nonexistent) photographic talent from Steve McCurry's :)
This ship is my favorite out of my physical collection. Its just the rights size for play while still having enough detail for display and has an interior. Said interior is based of the cross section book for the force awakens. There is a single bed and nothing else. I wish that the bed could be moved over though, as it is taking up quite a bit a space.
Problems:
the rear door is invisible
the rear wings are not all the way at the end of the ship
there are no front wings
the cockpit is nonexistent
The population of Guinea-Bissau still has insufficient, and sometimes nonexistent access to clean drinking water. For that reason, Plan is working on improving water and sanitation systems by drilling boreholes in the communities around Bafata and Gabu.
This ship is my favorite out of my physical collection. Its just the rights size for play while still having enough detail for display and has an interior. Said interior is based of the cross section book for the force awakens. There is a single bed and nothing else. I wish that the bed could be moved over though, as it is taking up quite a bit a space.
Problems:
the rear door is invisible
the rear wings are not all the way at the end of the ship
there are no front wings
the cockpit is nonexistent
Research into remote controlled drones began in Germany in the late 1930s, namely by Fritz Gosslau. The Luftwaffe showed little interest in the project until mid-1942, when Gosslau, with the help of the Argus powerplant company and Fieseler, presented a simple design powered by a single pulse-jet engine. The Luftwaffe was intrigued enough to begin experimentation, with the design named the Fieseler Fi 103.
Though prototypes were air-launched, ground launching was much simpler and safer. Delays caused by Allied bombing and other projects delayed the first operational use of the Fi-103 until mid-June 1944; by that time, Hitler had already approved renaming the design in German propaganda as the Vergeltungswaffe 1--"Vengeance Weapon 1," or V-1.
From a military standpoint, the V-1 was a poor weapon. Its guidance system was fairly advanced for its time and its simplicity, but it could only be used against large cities such as London, and after late 1944, Antwerp. Where it would land was anyone's guess, and V-1s would stall easily. Many simply fell out of the air. All the V-1 could really do was kill civilians, which was exactly what Hitler intended.
The V-1 was fast, but not so fast that Allied high-speed propeller fighters could not keep up with it. Specially deployed units of Hawker Tempests and deHavilland Mosquitoes were formed to shoot them down; another method was to tip up the wing of a V-1 with the wingtip of the fighter, causing it to go out of control. Flak barrages were also somewhat effective. The most effective method of stopping V-1s was to ensure they were never launched: Operation Crossbow was enacted to bomb launch ramps and underground storage facilities. By late 1944, most of the launch ramps were overrun by Allied ground forces, but launch ramps in Germany and Heinkel He 111 bombers kept sending out V-1s until the last weeks of the war.
Of the 30,000 V-1s produced--it was remarkably simple to produce, even for a devastated German war industry--only 10,000 were launched, and of those, only 2400 reached their targets. Those that did, however, killed 6100 civilians; at one point, more civilians were killed in London than British soldiers in northwest Europe. After war's end, captured V-1s were used experimentally by the Allies to develop early Cold War-era cruise missiles.
Dad built this V-1 for a course on World War II that I teach. Markings were simple to nonexistent on most V-1s, though most were camouflaged; this one carries a standard Luftwaffe green over gray-green scheme.
The ladies' loo lines were short -- nonexistent, even. Has ballpark restroom design finally caught up with feminism? (Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA, 8/27/04)
hello flickr!
I've missed you guys. :(
I know some of your have told me to keep around. I havent disappeared, Ive just been super busy. but thats life. I never realized how much of my life is not being blogged or recorded somehow.
i miss it.
maybe another 365 or a 52 week is in order. ive been contemplating it.
anyways. ive missed you guys. I have decided I want to learn french and my friend said he'd hook it up with the rosetta stone. :)
life itself keeps moving. love is nonexistent as always, and business is booming.
i feel so free. i like it. :)
now i am off to shower and cook dinner for a friend who is coming over :) i hope i dont kill anyone, geez :P
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 54. Photo: Mills.
Scottish actor John Stuart (1898-1979) was a very popular leading man in British silent films in the 1920s. He appeared in two films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
John Stuart was born John Alfred Louden Croall in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1898. He began his stage and screen career directly after World War I service in The Black Watch. He made his film debut in the drama The Lights of Home (Fred Paul, 1920). Other silent films were the drama If Four Walls Told (Fred Paul, 1922) starring Lillian Hall-Davis, the comedy The School for Scandal (Bertram Phillips, 1923) with Queenie Thomas, and the comedy We Women (W.P. Kellino, 1925). Stuart was a very popular leading man in British silent films, though it's hard to gauge that popularity since many of his best films of the 1920s, such as A Sporting Double (1923), Constant Hot Water (1924) and Tower of London (1926), are either inaccessible or nonexistent. He appeared in a silent film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The Pleasure Garden (1925) was Hitchcock’s directorial debut. Based on a novel by Oliver Sandys, the film is about two chorus girls at the Pleasure Garden Theatre in London and their troubled relationships. Glamorous American star Virginia Valli played the lead. The film was shot in Italy and Germany in 1925 and shown to the British press in March 1926. But it was not officially released in the UK until 1927, after Hitchcock's film The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog became a massive hit in February 1927. Stuart worked several times with director Maurice Elvey. Very popular was their World War I drama Mademoiselle from Armentieres (Maurice Elvey, 1926), featuring Estelle Brody. The film opened in London in September 1926 and was still playing in cinemas around the country until well into 1927. It was reportedly the most profitable British film of 1926 and made an instant star of Brody. The two stars were reunited in the drama Hindle Wakes (Maurice Elvey, 1927), whose skilful use of location is considered to give the film a documentary realism feel very unusual in British films of the period. Brody and Stuart co-starred again in Mademoiselle Parley Voo (Maurice Elvey, 1928), a sequel to their earlier hit Mademoiselle from Armentieres (1926), and equally successful. Both films refer to the popular First World War song Mademoiselle from Armentières.
John Stuart’s first sound film, Kitty (Victor Saville 1929) was another successful production. Kitty was initially planned and filmed as a silent, but on its original completion Saville decided to reshoot the latter part with sound. As no suitable facilities were yet available in Britain, Saville, Estelle Brody and Stuart travelled to New York to shoot the new sequences at RKO Studios. The film was released in the form of a silent which switched to sound after the halfway point. Stuart’s next film, Atlantic (1929) was one of the first British films made with the soundtrack optically recorded on the film (sound-on-film). Atlantic was directed and produced by Ewald André Dupont. Three versions were made, an English and a German language version, Atlantik, which were shot simultaneously, and later a French version was made. In England, Atlantic was released in both sound and silent prints. The film was originally made as Titanic but after lawsuits, it was renamed Atlantic. The White Star Line, which owned the RMS Titanic, was still in operation at the time. The final scene of the film was filmed as a shot of the liner sinking but it was cut at the last minute as it was feared it would upset Titanic survivors. Then Stuart worked for a second time with Alfred Hitchcock, although indirectly. Elstree Calling (1930) is a lavish musical film revue directed by Andre Charlot, Jack Hulbert, Paul Murray, and Hitchcock at Elstree Studios. It was Britain's answer to the Hollywood revues, such as Paramount on Parade (1930) and Hollywood Review of 1929. Stuart was not appearing in the segments directed by Hitchcock. They worked together again on Number Seventeen (Alfred Hitchcock, 1932), in which Stuart played the lead. The film is about a group of criminals who committed a jewel robbery and put their money in an old house over a railway leading to the English Channel, the film's title being derived from the house's street number. An outsider stumbles onto this plot and intervenes with the help of a neighbour, a police officer's daughter. On its initial release, audiences reacted to Number Seventeen with confusion and disappointment. Stuart then played Sir Henry Baskerville in the mystery The Hound of the Baskervilles (Gareth Gundrey, 1932), based on the novel by Arthur Conan Doyle and scripted by Edgar Wallace. He was the co-star of Brigitte Helm in The Mistress of Atlantis (Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1932), the English language version of the German-French adventure and fantasy film L'Atlantide/Die Herrin von Atlantis (Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1932) based on the novel L'Atlantide by Pierre Benoît.
John Stuart starred with Benita Hume in the drama Men of Steel (George King, 1932). It was made at Nettlefold Studios under the so-called quota quickie system for distribution by United Artists. In 1927, The Cinematograph Films Act was designed to stimulate the declining British film industry. It introduced a requirement for British cinemas to show a quota of British films, for 10 years. The result of the act was the 'quota quickie', a low-cost, poor-quality film commissioned by American distributors operating in the UK purely to satisfy the quota requirements. During the 1930s Stuart appeared in a lot of these films. memorable are the drama The Lost Chord (Maurice Elvey, 1933) with Elizabeth Allan and Jack Hawkins, the comedy This Week of Grace Chord (Maurice Elvey, 1933) starring Gracie Fields and Henry Kendall, and the Anglo-Italian aviation drama The Blue Squadron (George King, 1934) with Esmond Knight. Stuart co-starred with Fritz Kortner and Nils Asther in Abdul the Damned (Karl Grune, 1935), set in the Ottoman Empire in the years before the First World War where the Sultan and the Young Turks battle for power. He also worked often with director George Pearson, like in the thriller The Secret Voice (1936), and appeared in several parts of the long-running Old Mother Riley series. During the war years, Stuart’s parts became smaller or better said, he matured into character parts. He played a supporting part in the thriller Headline (John Harlow, 1944) with David Farrar as a crime reporter who searches for a mystery woman (Anne Crawford) who has witnessed a murder. Another example is the Gainsborough melodrama Madonna of the Seven Moons (Arthur Crabtree, 1945) starring Phyllis Calvert, Stewart Granger and Patricia Roc. In 1946 readers of the Daily Mail voted the film their third most popular British movie from 1939 to 1945. During the following decades he played government officials and police inspectors in B-films like the mystery The Ringer (Guy Hamilton, 1952) starring Herbert Lom, and the Science-fiction film Four Sided Triangle (Terence Fisher, 1953). Memorable are the war film Sink the Bismarck! (Lewis Gilbert, 1960) with Kenneth More, the Science-fiction film Village of the Damned (Wolf Rilla, 1960), and the suspense film Paranoiac (Freddie Francis, 1963) from Hammer Films starring Janette Scott and Oliver Reed. Stuart now only played bit roles. His last part was a cameo in Superman (Richard Donner, 1978). In 1979, John Stuart died in London at the age of 81. He is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London. An accomplished writer, John Stuart penned his autobiography, Caught in the Act, in 1971. His son Jonathan Croall is writing a book about the screen idols of the 1920s, including John Stuart.
Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
'Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery – celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to.”'
~ Jim Jarmusch
Sculpture Trouvée, Gersloot
17-365-2 Dragon Ride
After a long and frustrating night and morning of trying in vain to get my computer online I decided to go for a drive.There is a wildfire out near Detroit Lake Oregon and I thought I would go see if I could find a nice safe spot to get some pictures from. I drove for about 2 hours to find the dirt road that my squirrely GPS was leading me to. I follow it for about a mile and a half to have it tell me, "Make a left" onto a nonexistent path. The forest was so thick that you could not see anything let alone a fire. However on my journeys through the woods I found a nice spot for a few sunset pictures instead.
This was the most beautiful, intense and unusual sunset I have EVER seen! There were upon counting the shots later, about 17 or 18 Dragon heads in the clouds! Also the clouds were constantly changing and forming strange mountains outlined by the setting sun on the horizon! At times the sky looked like it was on fire! Though I never saw a flame, this more than made up for it!
Look close and you might just see the title within. A small dark haired girl gleefully riding the tail of a dragon...
We found Andrew Linn drifting around in the almost nonexistent breeze in his Puddle Goose, using plans from Michael Storer as inspiration, but adding significant personal touches.
Sidney Woodruff, graduate student, gets a photo of Emily Phillips (blue), a ecology graduate student, with the Western Pond Turtle in the Arboretum on June 8, 2022.
The project involves assisting Dr. Brian Todd and Ph.D. Student Sidney Woodruff in a research study evaluating how native species respond to the removal of non-native species and waterway restoration. The research objectives are to investigate the abundance and population demography of the native Western pond turtle (Actineymys marmorata) and population response in growth and demography from the removal of non-native red-eared sliders. Natural populations of the Western pond turtle are found in the UC Davis Arboretum where red-eared sliders occupy the same ecological niche in high densities. Natural populations of Western pond turtles are found in the nearby South Fork of Putah Creek where the presence of non-native turtles is extremely low or nonexistent. This work can highlight the importance of waterway restoration in building a more resilient ecosystem while supporting the recovery and conservation of native species.
Providing this opportunity will allow undergraduate students to be involved in wildlife conservation research under the supervision of a graduate student mentor and PI while also supporting the objectives of this study and the restoration of the UC Davis Arboretum.
Boredom in Tartu
Canon AE-1 with Canon FD 50mm f/1.8
Tri-X @ 1600
stand developed in Rodinal 1:100
I'm really into low-light shooting but I can never really get the results I want. I usually end up with either blown-out highlights or nonexistent shadow detail. This is my first time using Rodinal and I'm really pleased with the results, I don't think I'll be using anything else for a while now.
Not sure if this is real or a clone. A real version of this car is practically nonexistent (at least from what I have read).
Fast food means already prepared food. Bread and tea are the staples of my diet here for tea time. We were eating plain bread (slices not rolls pictured) at my house for a few months before I thought about getting a toaster. When I went into town I couldn't find one looked like it wouldn't break after two uses. (that is the problem living in country where customers first is a nonexistent policy and quality isn't worth the price. Knowing this the problem is exacerbated with toasters as they are so simple and made of thin metal you cant tell if they are destined for the trash or not) Fortunately a family living in town wasn't using theirs and let me barrow it for the remainder of my stay. Thus my food revolution continued upgrading from plain bread to slightly burned bread (toast). Another development in the revolution is the fancy I now have for peppered popcorn.
This bridge, carrying US 6 over Westcott Road (SR 607, formerly US 6A), is the center of a modified diamond interchange with frontage roads. Signage is nearly nonexistent.
This ship is my favorite out of my physical collection. Its just the rights size for play while still having enough detail for display and has an interior. Said interior is based of the cross section book for the force awakens. There is a single bed and nothing else. I wish that the bed could be moved over though, as it is taking up quite a bit a space.
Problems:
the rear door is invisible
the rear wings are not all the way at the end of the ship
there are no front wings
the cockpit is nonexistent
We found Andrew Linn drifting around in the almost nonexistent breeze in his Puddle Goose, using plans from Michael Storer as inspiration, but adding significant personal touches.
These dramatic cliffs are only about a half hour drive from the Borgo across twisting turning roads through gorgeous "Tuscan badlands" scenery. We had to be careful getting this shot though--the roads, though beautiful, are narrow, the shoulder is nonexistent and just beyond these beautiful plants the cliffs drop directly downward!
Cedars of Lebanon State Park is a state park in Wilson County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. It consists of 900 acres situated amidst the 9,420-acre Cedars of Lebanon State Forest. The park and forest are approximately 10 miles (16 km) south of Lebanon, Tennessee.
Cedars of Lebanon State Forest is known for its cedar glades, a unique type of ecosystem that has adapted to the thin (or nonexistent) soil layers that often occur in the eastern Central Basin. These glades are typically flanked by thick stands of red cedar, a type of juniper tree that can survive in soil layers too thin to support most large wooded plants. The presence of the red cedar in the basin reminded the region's early Euro-American settlers of the Lebanese cedar forests of Biblical fame.
Cedars of Lebanon State Forest is underlain by Ordovician period limestone, formed roughly 460 million years ago from calcareous ooze deposited by a primordial sea that once covered Middle Tennessee. Weathering of this rock has led to the creation of karst formations such as joints, underground streams, caves, and sinkholes, which are common throughout the park and forest. The forest is located in a flat section of the Central Basin characterized by thin soil layers where the limestone bedrock is often exposed.
Cedar glade communities have adapted to the basin's harsh barrens, where the soil is too thin to support most plant types, especially large wooded plants. The glades are typically open areas resembling rock or gravel-strewn meadows. Most glades include small areas of bare rock where nothing grows, gravelly areas where only grasses grow, and patches of very thin soil that support shrubs and small red cedars. Cedar glades are typically surrounded by stands of red cedar known as cedar thickets. Beyond the cedar thickets, the soil is thick enough to support a hardwood forest consisting primarily of oak and hickory.
The cedar glades of Cedars of Lebanon State Forest are home to 350 plant species, 29 of which are endemic to the cedar glades. Flowering plant species living in the glades include the formerly endangered Tennessee Coneflower (Echinacea tennesseensis), the Prickly Pear cactus (Opuntia humifusa), Limestone flame flower (Phemeranthus calcaricus), Gattinger's Prairie Clover (Dalea gattingeri), Glade Phlox (Phlox bifida), and Nashville Breadroot (Pediomelum subacaule). Nonflowering plants include reindeer moss and glade moss. Along with the red cedar, trees in the surrounding forest include white oak and shagbark hickory. Wildlife chiefly consists of rodents and birds.
The Postcard
A postcard that was published by Delittle, Fenwick & Co. of York. The card was printed in England.
It was posted in Hastings using a ½d. stamp on Tuesday the 21st. March 1905. It was sent to:
Miss Brent,
103, Malpas Road,
Brockley,
London SE.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"Sun Inn,
Tackleway,
Hastings.
Dear Cis,
Having a rest at the
place where you got
sunburnt.
Very nice weather at
present.
Yours truly,
Harry."
The Sun Inn
Alas, the Sun Inn is no more.
The Sun Inn was formerly a beer house called the Cutter Foam, first licensed in the 1860's.
It burnt down in the early hours of the 26th June 1873, the fire being discovered by a fisherman named Swaine who happened to be passing.
Fortunately, the occupants were rescued without injury. The two adjoining buildings which were at one point considered to be at risk were saved.
The pub was rebuilt and re-opened as the Sun Inn in 1876.
In 1878 Breeds Brewery, to whom the pub was tied, would not transfer the licence to a landlord who had been in situ for 12 months, because they believed that he had not conducted business in a proper manner. The landlord in his defence said:
“The house was a brothel
before I took over.”
Stephen Blundell became the landlord in 1880.
In 1939 licensee J. M. Walker acted as unpaid Air Raid Warden for the area, but he had gone by 1944 when a London bus driver applied for the licence.
He left his job without permission, and in court said that after his wife died, running a household was too much to cope with.
He moved to Hastings, and finding the Sun Inn needed a landlord, he applied. His story was reported as:
‘Busman Gets a Place in the Sun’.
The license changed hands again in 1945, when Stephen Charles Sherwood took over from Percy Charles Standing.
Tackleway is a narrow street and delivery lorries found access difficult. Also it was proposed to redevelop the area under the Holford Plan. For these two reasons the Sun Inn closed in 1970. John Cornelius was the licensee at the time of the pub's closure.
The Grover Shoe Factory Disaster
So what else happened on the day that Harry posted the card?
Not a lot, but the day before, Monday the 20th. March 1905, was the day of the Grover Shoe Factory Disaster in Brockton, Massachusetts
The Grover Shoe Factory disaster was an industrial explosion, building collapse and fire that killed 58 people and injured 150 when it leveled the R. B. Grover shoe factory
Following a boiler explosion, the four-story wooden building collapsed and the ruins burst into flames, incinerating workers trapped in the wreckage.
The Grover disaster brought new attention to industrial safety and led to stringent safety laws and a national code governing the safe operation of steam boilers.
-- The R. B. Grover Shoe Factory
The R. B. Grover shoe factory was one of a number of shoe factories in Brockton, a town that employed 35,000 shoe workers.
The wooden building, shaped like a letter E, occupied half a city block at the corner of Main and Calmar Streets. Grover made the popular Emerson brand shoe, and business had been good enough to add a fourth floor.
The factory was heated using steam radiators, with the steam being produced by coal-fired steel boilers installed in a brick boiler house attached to the wooden factory as the crossbar of the E.
When the fourth floor was added, the original boiler was replaced by a larger one, and the old boiler, 17 feet (5.2 m) long and six feet (1.8 m) in diameter, was left in place as a backup.
Since the new boiler could meet the factory's demands on its own, the old one was seldom used; and when used, was used reluctantly.
Grover's chief engineer David Rockwell, who had a first-class engineer's license and twelve years experience, did not trust it.
-- The Explosion
The new boiler had to be flushed out as part of its regular maintenance, so Rockwell temporarily put the old boiler back into service.
Early that cold damp Monday, he fed its coal fire and put the boiler to work heating the building for the arriving day-shift workers.
At 7:45 a.m. the plant manager telephoned Rockwell in order to ask about some strange noises coming from the radiators along one wall. Rockwell had just stepped out of the building, but his assistant assured the manager that everything was in order.
A few minutes later, the old boiler exploded, rocketing up through three floors and the roof.
-- Collapse and Fire
The flying boiler knocked over an elevated water tower at one end of the building, and its full tank smashed through the roof, causing that end of the building to immediately collapse, with the floors pancaking and the walls falling in on top of them.
Many workers who survived the initial explosion and collapse were trapped by broken beams and heavy machinery. Burning coals thrown from the boiler's fire pit landed throughout the debris, starting fires that were fed by broken gas lines.
The factory's more than 300 windows, now blown out, created a chimney effect in the parts of the factory still standing, resulting in a fire hot enough to melt iron pipes and radiators.
The wooden floors, treated nightly with linseed oil in order to keep the dust down, burned quickly. High winds helped spread the fire to nearby storage sheds and neighboring buildings, including a hardware store and a rooming house.
The Campello neighborhood's district firehouse shared a city block with the factory, and its firefighters arrived quickly, as did many local citizens.
Using long timbers as levers, they were able to lift some of the wreckage and rescue some workers before the flames reached them. Local newspapers recount many acts of heroism in the rescues made that day.
Barrels of naphtha, a volatile industrial solvent related to gasoline, were stored in a wooden shed directly behind the boiler house. The shed was set afire by the burning coals and the naphtha exploded, throwing sheets of flame onto the wreckage and driving rescuers away.
-- Escape
Between 300 and 400 workers were in the factory at the time of the explosion. Workers in the sections that were still standing escaped down stairways or climbed to the roof; others had to jump from windows because the explosion had knocked some fire escapes off the building.
About 100 workers escaped unharmed and 150 were injured. A number who were only slightly injured went home without reporting their injuries.
Police later related the story of a worker so dazed that he left the scene, applied for a job at another shoe factory, worked all day, then went home to find his family mourning him.
-- Death
An immediate search was made for the chief engineer. Rockwell was at first reported as among the injured, then could not be found, then at one point was reported as having left town.
From her kitchen window, Mrs. Rockwell had seen him sitting in a chair near the boiler house window five minutes before the explosion.
A search of the boiler house the next day turned up a charred body, a bent watch, two rubber heels and a torn piece of clothing identified by Mrs. Rockwell as belonging to her husband.
Survivors were asked to register their names with the police. Body collection began that afternoon, with only bone fragments to be found toward the rear of the factory where the fire was worst.
As families arrived looking for missing workers, grief-stricken relatives ran back and forth between reading the latest survivor lists and watching the recovery of bodies.
Due to the extreme heat of the fire, only a few bodies could be positively identified. Thirty-nine unidentified victims were buried in a ceremony at Brockton's Melrose Cemetery three days later. The disaster's 58th. victim, Hiram Pierce, died on the 15th. April 15.
-- Financial Assistance
On the day of the fire, the leatherworkers union announced that the injured would be paid $5 weekly (equivalent to $170 in 2023) until they recovered, and that the families of the dead would receive $100 (equivalent to $3,391 in 2023) for each family member killed.
Civic leaders created the Brockton Relief Fund, which collected and distributed nearly $105,000 in cash assistance to the families (equivalent to $3,560,667 in 2023).
Factory owner Robbins Grover worked for the rest of his life in order to secure financial aid for the families of those who died.
-- Causes of the Explosion
An assistant engineer who had been with Rockwell five minutes before the explosion stated that when he left, the boiler gauges showed steam pressure to be in the safe range, and the boiler to have plenty of water.
The state Inspector of Boilers checked the boiler's fusible plug and determined that the explosion was not caused by a lack of water.
Rockwell's wife stated that for the previous few days her husband had been irritable because he had to operate the boiler at "a pressure it was unequal to".
A factory official stated that he was at a loss to account for the explosion, and when told of Mrs. Rockwell's remarks, said that the amount of pressure on the boiler was not a matter in which factory officials interfered.
He added that:
"The engineer took his orders in this matter
from the Hartford Boiler Insurance Company,
and if he overworked that boiler, he did it
without our knowledge.
We do not even know why he used the old
boiler this week instead of the newer one".
(The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company provided regular inspection and testing to customers of its insurance program, as well as on-site engineering services, resulting in something of a shared responsibility with boiler owners for safe operation.)
One Grover executive speculated that the explosion might have been caused by a recently installed safety device. C. E. Roberts, a manager of Hartford Steam Boiler, stated:
"So far as I have been able to learn, there
appears to have been no carelessness in
the handling of the boiler, and the explosion,
in my opinion, was caused by a defect that
was impossible to discover."
-- The Inquest
A coroner's inquest was convened. A Grover representative testified that the boiler was inspected in December and found to be in apparent good condition.
Several employees testified that David Rockwell seemed capable of attending to his duties that morning.
Boiler inspectors who examined the ripped-open boiler reported finding a crack in one of its riveted, lap jointed seams.
Experts characterized the boiler, built in 1890, as old technology likely to have a short service life under high pressure. Thousands of similar boilers were then in use in the United States.
On the 29th. March 1905 the district attorney stated that the accident was due to a hidden defect in the boiler, and that no criminal charges would be filed.
As to civil liability, two weeks later a judge ruled that the explosion was caused by a defect that could not have been discovered, and held the company blameless.
He also found that the various insinuations made against chief engineer Rockwell were untrue.
-- The Engineering Study
An engineering study begun as part of the inquest brought new facts to light. At least two barrels of naphtha were stored in a wooden shed directly behind the boiler house.
The study said that without the naphtha explosions, the number of deaths would have been only about one-quarter of the actual.
When the naphtha exploded, it crushed one side of the factory building, pinning more workers under beams and machinery. A second outbuilding containing naphtha caught fire after about fifteen minutes and there was a second naphtha explosion, showering hundreds of gallons of the flaming liquid on the burning wreckage.
Engineers estimated the force of the boiler explosion as equal to 660 pounds (300 kg) of dynamite.
-- Bankruptcy
Although his factory was insured, Captain Grover was financially ruined. The R. B. Grover Company declared bankruptcy and assigned its remaining assets, more than 30 Emerson shoe stores scattered around the country, to its creditors.
-- Legacy of the Disaster
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) had been founded in 1880 in response to the boiler explosions that had become common as the use of steam power expanded during the Industrial Revolution.
Between 1880 and 1890 there were over 2,000 boiler explosions in the United States. By 1890, some 100,000 boilers were in service, many of them unsafe.
Inspections were rare, and operating guidelines almost nonexistent. Steam pressures were regularly cranked up to produce additional work.
The Grover disaster, coupled with another fatal Massachusetts shoe factory boiler explosion the following year in Lynn, brought new cries for improved industrial safety.
A new governor demanded prompt action, and a Board of Boiler Rules was formed, drafting a simple three-page set of rules. After the ASME helped overcome manufacturer objections to "needless government interference", Massachusetts passed an Act Relating to the Operation and Inspection of Steam Boilers in 1907.
The Massachusetts laws eventually led to passage of a national boiler safety code.
-- A Subsequent Explosion
Safety improved, but the Massachusetts fatalities would not be the last. Twenty-three people were killed and 94 injured in 1962 when a boiler exploded and ripped through a New York Telephone Company cafeteria at lunchtime.
A city agency later determined that the boiler had been improperly maintained and operated.
This picture is a DOE site in Moab, Utah, which is in the midst of clean up efforts. We got a tour, but they wouldn't (obviously) let us get out near or on the pile, though we did step out a little bit by the river. It's pretty hard to convey the size of the thing since the pile is actually 3 stories high and much bigger than the area covered by those buildings, so if you get the whole site, it doesn't look tall, and if you get a close up with scale for the height, it doesn't look large in area. I wanna go back and I'm starting to think that maybe the best way is just to go on or lead another ASB trip to the area...
They drove us up this hill to this vantage point, where, behind us, there were train cars being loaded with tailings, which are being transported by rail (citizens find trucks objectionable and potential accidents would be a huge public relations disaster) to a remote site 50 miles from the nearest civilization, where it will be capped in the ground - basically lining the hole with impermeable material, throwing the tailings in and covering it up. This might sound flimsy, but it is at least preferrable to the current location of the pile, which is literally right next to the river.
Factually, the amount of uranium in the pile is supposed to be less of a cause for worry than exposure to radiation when flying, getting x-rays or even staying in a badly finished basement (radon gas), but we met with a couple of reps from the local city council and they very much prefer the pile be dealt with to prevent further leaching into the water supply, however minimal by DOE estimates. The DOE reps we met with claimed that the uranium levels were almost nonexistent any distance away from the the site, and were in fact the last thing in the water we should be concerned with given anti-depressants and other pollutants.
These issues in the Southwest seem somewhat pertinent to Southern California since after all, the entire LA metropolitan and suburban area is downstream. In fact, it was the Metropolitan Water District of LA that was the deciding factor in the clean up project in Moab getting the go-ahead. In the words of Don Metzler, they are the "800 pound gorilla" that gets things moving.
In other news, China film is ready for pickup! Commence scanning!
In this humorous photo, the dog and the bunny are exposing the internet trend of loss of privacy, specifically as it relates to Facebook. This website definitely falls under the genre of social media and it is very easy to release personal information to strangers, thus a loss of privacy.
www.lossofprivacy.com/index.php/2010/06/facebook-privacy-...
indulgent brunch at alias on clinton & rivington. the menu included: cinnamon beignets & dipping chocolate, mac & cheese, blt w/a fried egg (pictured), and cheesy grits.
heaven.
(and they let us hang out to wait for jac, who was 1.5 late due to a nonexistent M, a slow L, and an F that stopped service too early.)
I did say it had a claim to fame!
The poster featuring Arriva Guildford & West Surrey 3928 (GK51 SZF) is everywhere in Surrey, including not one but two copies here at the Dormansland School bus stop! This is the more faded example.
This part of extreme-east-most Surrey is miles and miles away from 3928 ever reaching it.
Interestingly, on StreetView, this is one of those useless bus shelters that is set back so far from the road, and with the view of approaching buses nonexistent, that if you used it, you'd be at risk of missing the bus! goo.gl/maps/JnSHW
It has since been moved forwards however, it was adjacent to the pavement when I saw it.
Dormans High Street, Dormansland, Surrey.
I roasted a chicken last night.
It was an unusual dinner, as I've been a strict vegetarian (and sometimes aspiring vegan) for about six years. But this chicken came from my mother's friend who raises them herself. I'm not ethically opposed to eating humanely-raised animals, so when my mom offered me one, I couldn't think of a good reason to say no.
Obviously, my poultry cooking skills are rusty (err, nonexistent), but I found a recipe that turned out good (despite its appearance).
But it's probably the last chicken I'll ever eat. I didn't feel guilty or viscerally disgusted as I'd expected, but the whole process seemed dirty, difficult, and unnecessary compared to cooking with plant-based foods. Hacking up a cucumber is easier than deskinning a bird.
So back to vegetables.
(And yes, it's clear from the photo that I have no idea how to carve a chicken. Stabbing at random seemed to work though.)
Photographs by Paul Russell
Learn more about Steve's work: visitsteve.com/
ABOUT THE PROJECT
(from the SPACES catalog)
Starting a conversation about Capitalism is like walking up to a stranger and asking, “Can I talk to you about Jesus?”
The word “capitalism” is a red flag. And for good reason—pretty soon either some dude is talking your ear off about “The System” or aggressively confronting you about taxes. Ugh.
At the same time, capitalism is discussed every day using euphemisms like “jobs,” “job creation,” “the business climate,” and discussing whatever “crisis” is deemed relevant; a housing crisis, financial crisis, social security crisis, tax crisis, or fill- in-the blank crisis. But the whole is rarely a topic of frank discussion—much less alternatives or meaningful reform.
As a culture, we need the vision and boldness it takes to discuss the problem itself. The idea that “there is no alternative” to the way our world works takes away our ability to dream. As citizens we need the courage to begin these discussions on order to move on to new and better visions for the future.
But what to do? Start a conversation about capitalism and friends edge away slowly, and strangers even faster.
This is what art is for. This is what art does well. It creates a space where new ideas and perspectives can be explored. A space unlike any other.
Throughout my artistic career I’ve challenged myself to take on difficult subject matter in ways that are engaging and fun. I’ve found humor and popular culture can open doors to difficult but worthwhile subjects and enable us to envision and move toward new, utopian futures.
The sign starts here in Cleveland and will tour the US leading up to and beyond the 2012 presidential election. People who vote will be given the opportunity to have their portrait taken and give a short statement about why they voted the way they did. There will be a book, website, and videos that document people’s interactions and thoughts.
I’m excited that this piece takes on what for most Americans is a taboo, or even nonexistent subject: whether global, hegemonic capitalism actually works for most people. But whew, talking about that is boring! And telling people what to think is worse! This sign gets passers by to participate in deceptively simple vote (True/ False) which only pretends to offer resolution. Every aspect of the interaction draws them in to more complex questions and conversations, leading to new thoughts and ideas about a better world!
For 50 years it has been unacceptable, politically, in the United States to ask what is basically a straightforward question. We have a particular economic system, it’s called capitalism. We have every right as a society to ask of that system, is it working? Is it working for us? Do the benefits and the costs balance themselves out in a way that says, do we want to keep this system? Or that says, we want to change this system? Or that says, we ought to look at an alternative system. We’ve been afraid to ask that question. We’ve been afraid to have public debates—that’s the legacy of the cold war. We can’t afford anymore to not do that. We have to raise the question.
This was taken in Early Spring as the snow begins to melt, it leaves behind some pretty cool things to look at
Before cell phones, we relied on payphones to keep us connected when traveling. In places where cell coverage is spotty or nonexistent, payphones are still a thing.
Most of the phonebooths are gone, replaced (if replaced at all) with these small sci-fi pods that probably haven’t been touched since the 90s.
.
.
.
‘A Twist Towards Him’
Camera: Argus C2 (1939)
Film: Adox KB-21 (x-1959); 10iso
Process: HC-110; 1+100; 60min
Waverly, Kansas
We were walking through the new Aeon Hinode Mall today, and happened across the strangest candy I have ever seen. This chocolate is packaged as cow shit, with a name to reflect such horrible imagery. To make matters worse, the cow's ass in one wide open hole, which the chocolate falls out of when the cow is shaken. Fun times when our kids can pretend to eat cow shit, no?
I apologize for the grainy photo but this was taken with my piece-of-shit keitai. The lighting in the store was almost nonexistent and the camera on my keitai is definitely not good at all. Anyhow, I just *had* to capture the Super Dooper Crazy Pooper on camera!
colinhuggins.bandcamp.com/track/philip-glass-truman-sleeps
NY Times, Dec. 4 2011
Colin Huggins was there with his baby grand, the one he wheels into Washington Square Park for his al fresco concerts. So were Tic and Tac, a street-performing duo, who held court in the fountain — dry for the winter. And Joe Mangrum was pouring his elaborate sand paintings on the ground near the Washington Arch.
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Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times
Kareem Barnes of Tic and Tac collected donations on Sunday.
Enlarge This Image
Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times
Joe Mangrum showed his sand paintings on Sunday.
In other words, it was a typical Sunday afternoon in the Greenwich Village park, where generations of visitors have mingled with musicians, artists, activists, poets and buskers.
Yet this fall, that urban harmony has grown dissonant as the city’s parks department has slapped summonses on the four men and other performers who put out hats or buckets, for vending in an unauthorized location — specifically, within 50 feet of a monument.
The department’s rule, one of many put in place a year ago, was intended to control commerce in the busiest parks. Under the city’s definition, vending covers not only those peddling photographs and ankle bracelets, but also performers who solicit donations.
The rule attracted little notice at first. But the enforcement in Washington Square Park in the past two months has generated summonses ranging from $250 to $1,000. And it has started a debate about the rights of parkgoers seeking refuge from the bustle of the streets versus those looking for entertainment.
At a news conference in the park on Sunday organized by NYC Park Advocates, the artists waved fistfuls of pink summonses while their advocates, including civil rights lawyers, called on the city to stop what they called harassment of the performers.
“This is a heavy-handed solution to a nonexistent problem,” said Ronald L. Kuby, one of the lawyers.
The rule is especially problematic in Washington Square Park, performers say, because there are few locations across its 10 acres that are beyond 50 feet from a memorial or fountain — whether the bust of Alexander Lyman Holley, who introduced the Bessemer steel process to this country, or the statue of the Italian liberator Giuseppe Garibaldi.
Then there is the park’s international reputation as a gathering place for folk music pioneers and the Beats.
“Washington Square is the live-music park of New York City, and it would be close to impossible for any one of us to follow these regulations,” said Mr. Huggins, who has received nine summonses with fines totaling $2,250.
But Adrian Benepe, the parks commissioner, argues that there is ample room for performers away from the monuments. And, he added, a musician who is not putting out a tin cup is welcome to sit on the edge of the fountain or under a monument.
“It’s the whole issue of the ‘tragedy of the commons,’ ” he said. “If you allow all the performers and all the vendors to do whatever they want to do, pretty soon there’s no park left for people who want to use them for quiet enjoyment. This is a way of having some control and not 18 hours of carnival-like atmosphere.”
Gary Behrens, an amateur photographer visiting from New Jersey, applauded the city’s efforts to rein in the performers. “I’m O.K. with the guitar, but the loud instruments have taken over the park,” he said.
The lawyers and advocates, however, challenged the idea that street performers were selling a product as a vendor does. And threatening a lawsuit, they faulted the city for creating what they called “First Amendment zones” through the rules.
“Is this place zany?” asked Norman Siegel, the former director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. “You bet. Public parks are quintessential public forums. Zaniness is something we should cherish and protect.”
Park visitation has soared along with the rise of tourism in the last 15 years, and with it vendors and artists interested in a lucrative market.
Mr. Benepe insisted that the rules would not scare off future music legends.
“If Bob Dylan wanted to come play there tomorrow, he could,” he said, “although he might have to move away from the fountain.”
Oddly, the dispute coincided with the 50th anniversary of the so-called Folk Riot in Washington Square Park, when the parks commissioner tried to squelch Sunday folk performances. Hundreds of musicians gathered in protest, the police were called in and a melee ensued.
In April, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg wrote a letter commemorating the Folk Riot, saying he applauded “the folk performers who changed music, our city and our world beginning half a century ago.”
Well, I haven't uploaded anything in a good long while.
This was the shot I ended up choosing as my print for the most recent assignment I had in photography class (check the title). I should probably mention that this isn't actually vellum (it's tracing paper), as we have a nonexistent budget and couldn't find any at Michael's. The point of the assignment was to manipulate the "vellum" in some way to make an interesting photograph. I crumpled mine into a landscape and lit it from below with a flashlight. I'm reasonably pleased with the result.
EasyShare C190.
It is so dry. From this image the corn crop appears green and healthy, but look closely and you can see its blades pointing towards heaven, "praying for rain" as the locals would say. In the distance the hillsides are brown--grazing for cattle is nearly nonexistent and hay cuttings are sparse. Tobacco and soybeans aren't growing, and backyard gardens grow only with vigilant watering. Everyones yard is brown, and we haven't had to mow in weeks. Last week I walked across the pond to take a photo of a cattail--it is nothing but a puddle now.
We need rain. The forecast says 30% chance on Tuesday and 40% chance on Wednesday, and beyond that nothing. It's not looking good.
Presenting the Mistral – A Gas Freighter of the Belt
In the weightless void of space, industrial freighters like the Mistral are built for efficiency, not aesthetics. With its reinforced truss structure, independent thruster arrays, and massive cargo tanks, it is a workhorse of the Belt, ferrying precious volatile gases across the solar system.
At the forefront of the vessel, what might appear to be a command module is actually a massive impact shield, designed to protect the ship from micro-meteoroids and debris traveling at deadly speeds. In the unforgiving reality of spaceflight, even a stray pebble can spell disaster, and the Mistral ensures its cargo reaches its destination intact.
Unlike bulk freighters that rely solely on inertia, the Mistral boasts a full set of maneuvering thrusters, three primary engines, and precise vector control, allowing it to make delicate adjustments during docking, refueling, or evasive maneuvers in high-risk zones. Positioned atop the central structure, a large access hatch provides direct entry to the ship’s systems and cargo bays, facilitating rapid maintenance and cargo transfer.
Recreating such an open and lightweight space structure in LEGO is a challenge in itself. The Mistral’s support framework has been carefully engineered to withstand the immense weight of its tanks, preventing structural collapse under gravity—an issue nonexistent in microgravity but crucial for terrestrial display.
A testament to function-first design, the Mistral captures the industrial beauty of spaceflight: a vessel built not for comfort, but for the harsh realities of deep-space logistics.
The ships is nearly 13 000 parts, 185 stud long (1.48 Meters) and weights nearly 11 Kg
Built in 1857, this Greek Revival was the residence of New Yorker merchant Thomas Whaley, who arrived in California with the Gold Rush. He run a successful shop at Montgomery Square in San Francisco until it was destroyed by arson, thereupon he went South to San Diego to run his business. In 1852 Whaley witnessed the hanging of James Robinson, known as Yankee Jim, for supposed grand larceny. Yankee Jim was a tall man, and when the wagons pulled away he kept his feet on it as long as possible, finally flipping off and strangling to death. A year later Whaley returned to New York to marry Anna Delaunay and bring her to California. He purchased this property on the location of Yankee Jim's hanging and opened a profitable granary, using bricks created in his own brickyard nearby, before deciding to convert it into his home.
The Whaley House cost $10000 to build and was said to be the finest house in San Diego when it finished construction. Thomas Whaley used it as a general store before moving to a better location near the plaza. Thomas Whaley's fortunes fluctuated drastically after that, mostly on the failure side of things, resulting in his house frequently being up for lease. For a few months between 1868 and 1869, the Tanner Troupe Theatre operated out of the front upstairs bedroom and the Whaley House briefly served as the second San Diego County Courthouse in 1869, renting three upstairs rooms for records storage. In 1871 as part of the increasingly angry dispute between Old Town and New Town San Diego, the sheriff stormed the Whaley House in the middle of the night, supposedly held Anna hostage, and left with the old records for its New Town location.
The Whaleys eventually had six children, one of whom died of scarlet fever here after just 18 months. In 1882 Violet Whaley married a scoundrel who apparently had attempted to profit off of the Whaley's (nonexistent) fortune. Abandonment, the reveal of the groom's con man past and divorce quickly followed, but Victoria was humiliated and ostracized as a result of the divorce. In 1885 she attempted to commit suicide by jumping into the cistern behind the house. She was rescued, but only a few weeks later succeeded in her suicide attempt by shooting herself in the chest. Her note read:
Mad from life's history,
Swift to death's mystery;
Glad to be hurled,
Anywhere, anywhere, out of this world.
After this the Whaley family moved to New Town. In 1909, Thomas' son Francis returned to his family's old residence and restored it. With interest in Old Town returning (following the restoration of the Romona Marriage House), Francis opened the home as a tourist attraction, emphasizing its history. Lillian Whaley lived at this house until her death in 1953. After being threatened with demolition, activists purchased the house. It is now a museum run by the Save Our Heritage Organization.
Old Town, San Diego, California
Japanese Beetles were almost nonexistent the previous three years, but they're back with a vengeance this year and playing merry hell with my roses.
This series of photos shows our cruise ship's journey along the Fiordland coast between Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound, and then our looping route in one entrance to this enormous fiord and out another. The reaction of my fellow passengers to this magnificent New Zealand scenery was, in itself, wonderful to observe.
•Doubtful Sound is a very large and naturally imposing fiord in Fiordland, in the far south west of New Zealand. Doubtful Sound was named 'Doubtful Harbour' in 1770 by Captain Cook, who did not enter the inlet as he was uncertain whether it was navigable under sail. It was later renamed Doubtful Sound by whalers and sealers. There are three distinct arms to the sound, which is the site of several large waterfalls, notably Helena Falls at Deep Cove, and the Browne Falls which have a fall of over 600 metres. The steep hills are known for their hundreds of waterfalls during the rainy season. Access to the sound is either by sea, or by the Wilmot Pass road from the Manapouri Power Station. Most areas of the sound itself are only accessible by sea however, as the road network in this area of New Zealand is sparse or nonexistent, as is the human population. Doubtful Sound is unusual in that it contains two distinct layers of water that scarcely mix. The top few meters is fresh water, fed from the high inflows from the surrounding mountains, and stained brown with tannins from the forest. Below this is a layer of cold, heavy, saline water from the sea. The dark tannins in the fresh water layer makes it difficult for light to penetrate. Thus, many deep-sea species will grow in the comparatively shallow depths of the Sound.
Photographs by Paul Russell
Learn more about Steve's work: visitsteve.com/
ABOUT THE PROJECT
(from the SPACES catalog)
Starting a conversation about Capitalism is like walking up to a stranger and asking, “Can I talk to you about Jesus?”
The word “capitalism” is a red flag. And for good reason—pretty soon either some dude is talking your ear off about “The System” or aggressively confronting you about taxes. Ugh.
At the same time, capitalism is discussed every day using euphemisms like “jobs,” “job creation,” “the business climate,” and discussing whatever “crisis” is deemed relevant; a housing crisis, financial crisis, social security crisis, tax crisis, or fill- in-the blank crisis. But the whole is rarely a topic of frank discussion—much less alternatives or meaningful reform.
As a culture, we need the vision and boldness it takes to discuss the problem itself. The idea that “there is no alternative” to the way our world works takes away our ability to dream. As citizens we need the courage to begin these discussions on order to move on to new and better visions for the future.
But what to do? Start a conversation about capitalism and friends edge away slowly, and strangers even faster.
This is what art is for. This is what art does well. It creates a space where new ideas and perspectives can be explored. A space unlike any other.
Throughout my artistic career I’ve challenged myself to take on difficult subject matter in ways that are engaging and fun. I’ve found humor and popular culture can open doors to difficult but worthwhile subjects and enable us to envision and move toward new, utopian futures.
The sign starts here in Cleveland and will tour the US leading up to and beyond the 2012 presidential election. People who vote will be given the opportunity to have their portrait taken and give a short statement about why they voted the way they did. There will be a book, website, and videos that document people’s interactions and thoughts.
I’m excited that this piece takes on what for most Americans is a taboo, or even nonexistent subject: whether global, hegemonic capitalism actually works for most people. But whew, talking about that is boring! And telling people what to think is worse! This sign gets passers by to participate in deceptively simple vote (True/ False) which only pretends to offer resolution. Every aspect of the interaction draws them in to more complex questions and conversations, leading to new thoughts and ideas about a better world!
For 50 years it has been unacceptable, politically, in the United States to ask what is basically a straightforward question. We have a particular economic system, it’s called capitalism. We have every right as a society to ask of that system, is it working? Is it working for us? Do the benefits and the costs balance themselves out in a way that says, do we want to keep this system? Or that says, we want to change this system? Or that says, we ought to look at an alternative system. We’ve been afraid to ask that question. We’ve been afraid to have public debates—that’s the legacy of the cold war. We can’t afford anymore to not do that. We have to raise the question.
I shall call thee, "Baby Bump and the Fall Foliage."
Don't be deceived. My "bump" is virtually nonexistent in the mornings, but after I eat lunch, it grows to about this size. So this bump is probably more of a "food bump."
GTWL: Autumn
Here's a nicely kept Mercedes 300 TD station wagon from the early eighties. To the best of my knowledge, it was the first wagon M-B ever sold in this country, and it had a trubodiesel engine.
Because I associated premium car bands with coupes and sedans only, the idea of a Benz wagon (or "variant," as they say in Germany and the rest of Europe) seemed like a contradiction in terms to me. Lincoln wagons were unheard of, Imperial wagons were nonexistent, and the only wagon Cadillac offered was a hearse! But a posh, well-appointed wagon with room for the rugrats and the rug remnants for their bedrooms obviously appealed to the urban professionals that bought them. Now even Cadillac has a station wagon, the SRX (it's called a SUV crossover, but it's really a wagon!) and other luxury marques have long since followed suit.